Automatic alarm for railroad-crossings.



H. A. PRICE & J. E. GRANT.

AUTOMATIC ALARM FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.25, 1916.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. A. PRICE & J. E. GRANT.

AUTOMATIC ALARM FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS. APPLICATION FILED APR-25, :916.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNTTED PATENT FFQCEO HENRY A. PRICE AND JAMES E. GRANT, OF TERRELL, TEXAS.

AUTOMATIC ALARM FOB BAILROAD-GROSSINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patlgnted Fall), 13, 1917.

Application filed April 25, 1916. Serial No. 93,446.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY A. Peron and learns E. GRANT, citizens of the United States, residing at Terrell, in the county of Kaufman and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Alarms for Railroad- Crossings; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will on able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to improvements in automatic alarms for railroad crossings.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of automatic alarms for railroad crossings and to provide a simple, practical and e'fiicient railroad crossing alarm of strong, durable and inexpensive construction adapted to be readily applied to a railroad track and highways, street crossings and various other roads intersecting a railroad track and capable of being operated by the wheels of a passing train at a distance from a crossing so that the public will be warned of the approach of the train.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter. fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claimshere to appended; it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and. minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacriicing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of an automatic railroad crossing alarm constructed in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the alarm being shown in end elevation,

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4. is a longitudinal sectional View on the line H of Fig. 1, j

Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation i1lustrating the arrangement of the lever and the outer arm of the transverse rock shaft,

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 1 illustrating the manner of guiding the slidable spring supporting link rod,

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view illustrating the construction of the inner ends of the link rods. Y

Like nume ads of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings. p

In the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention the automatic alarm for railroad crossings comprises in its construction a hell or gonghaving an operating lever 2 and designed to operate on the principle of an ordinary bicycle bell so that when the lever is pulled downward and released the hell or alarm will be rung and the lever returned to its initial position, the Wheels of a' train passing over the mechanism hereinafter explained being adapted to actuate the hell or gong successively and thereby indicate the approach of the train. The

operating lever 2 is connected to the upper end of a chain which extends downwardly to a guide pulley 4 mounted on the lower, portion of a post 5 that supports the bell or gong in an elevated position.

The post or upright 5 is located at one side of the track 6 and the chainB extends from the guide pulley 4t to an inner guide,

pulley 7 located adjacent to one of the rails S of the track 6. The chain 3 extends from the guide pulley T to an upright lever 9 located at the outer side. of the rail 8 at a suitable distance from a. crossing. :l nstead, however, of oiuployiug a. chain any other suitable flexible or partly Flexible connection may be used. The upright lever 9 is piv oted at its lower end 10 to a dependin side or flange 11 of a bearing bracket 12 which .is also provided with an inner depending flange 13 and an inner upwardly extending rail engaging jaw 14: formed by bending the metal on itself to provide a jaw of two plies or thicknesses. The bearing bracket is secured to the lower face of the rail by a bolt 15 which coacts with the flange to maintain the bracket in engagement with the'ra'il. It also enables the bearing bracket to be quickly applied to and removed from the rail when it is desired to detach the parts for any purpose. The forward movement of the upright lever 9 is limited by an outer arm 16 of a transverse rock shaft 17 journaled in suitable bearings of the depending flanges 1 of the bearing bracket and also provided with an inner upwardly extending arm 18 provided with an inwardly extending upper terminal journal 19' upon which is mounted an anti-friction roller29. The anti friction roller 29 is arranged adjacent to the inner side of the rail 8 in the path of the flanges of the wheels of a passing train and heads or enlargements having arms 26.

of approximately hook-shape for engaging anopening 27 formed in the inner arm of the rock shaft at apoint intermediate of the endsl'of the said inner arms. The link rods extend downwardly and outwardly from the inner arms of. the rock shaft and they pass through the said guides 24: which consistof upright pins arranged in pairs as clearly illustrated .in Fig. 6 of the drawings,- butany other suitable guiding means may of course be employed. When the train traveling in the direction of the. crossing swingsthe inner arm toward the crossing, one of. the coiled springs, will be compressed andwillreturn the arm to its'central positionand when the armis moved away from the crossing by the wheels of a train the other spring will return it to a central position. The automatic alarm for railroad crossingsis designed for use inconnection with a one-way track and the train actuated mechanism will cause a continuous ringing of the. bell while the train is approaching the crossing as the inner arm 18 will be swungin the direction of the bell, from a vertical position, and will cause the outer arm 16 to actu ate the upright lever 9. Vhen the inner arm 18 is swungin the opposite directionfrom a vertical position by a train leaving a crossingthe outer arm 16 will be moved away from the upright lever and will not ringuthe hell. or gong. The bearing bracket is mounted between two cross ties.

28 andthe guides-extend upwardly from the cross ties which support the outer portions of the inclined spring supporting and actuate'd'jlink rods.

What is claimed is 1. An automatic alarmfor railway crossings including an audible signal havingan operatinglever, an uprightlever fulcrumed,

at the lower portion, a transverse rock shaft extendingbeneath one of the rails of a track and having an outer'arm arranged to limit themovement of the upright lever toward the signal, and adapted; to move the said upright lever away from the said signal to operate the same, means for connecting the uprightlever with the operating lever of the signal, an inner arm carried by the rock shaft and arranged in the path of the wheels of a train and means for normally maintaining the inner arm in a central-posi tion.

An automatic alarm for railroad crossings including a transverse rock shaft designed to, be mounted 'beneathone. of the rails of a track and provided with an inner upwardly extending, arm projecting into the pathof the-wheels of; a train, guides lo-' catcdin advance and inrear of the said arm, link rods. connected with and extending forwalally an d rearwardly from the said arm and slidable in. the said-guides and eoiledisprings disposedon the said link rods. and arranged tourgethe innerarmitoward a central position, an audible signal, and means for connecting; the" rock -shaft with the audible signal.

3. An'.automatic alarm for railroadcrossings including a transverse rock shaft designed to be mounted beneath one of. the rails of a track and provided-with'an inner upwardly ertendingarm projectinginto the path of. the wheelsoflra train, guides-la catedin advanceand iirrear of the said arm, linklrods connected witlrand extendmg forwardly and irearwardly. from the StllClarm anclslidablein thesaidguides and coiled springs disposed onthe saidlink rods and arrangedto urge the inner arm-toward a central position, an-outer upright lever fulcrumed at thezlower portion, an outer arm carried. the rock shaft and located in the advance ofthe upright lever for lim iting the forward. movement thereof, said outer arm being adapted to swingthe upright lever rearwardly, an audible signal, and means for cormecting the audible signal with the uprightilever.

-'l-.' An automatic alarm-for railroad crossings includinga bearing bracket havingrail engaging means and designed to be securedv to a rail between the cross ties, spaced pins arranged in pairs and projecting from the cross ties in advance and in-rear of the hearing bracket, a transverse rock shaft carried by the bearing bracket and having inner and outer arms, theinnerarm being projected into the path ofthelwheels of a train-and provided between its ends with an. opening, longitudinally. disposed link rods located in advance and in rear of. the inner arm of the roclrshaft and providedat their adjacent ends with heads havingnsubstantially hook-shaped terminal portions engaginginthe opening, of the inner arm, coiled springs. disposed on the link rods and interposed between theheads and the guide pins, an upright lever. located atthe outer :end of- 10 with depending flanges located at opposite sides of the rail, a fastening device piercing the rail and the bracket and coacting with the said jaw to secure the bracket to the rail, a rock shaft journaled in the depending flanges of the bracket and having inner and outer arms, the inner arm extending into the path of the wheels of a train, a lever arranged to be actuated by the outer arm of the rock shaft and means for connecting the lever with a signal.

In testimony whereof we afliX our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY A. PRICE. JAMES E. GRANT.

lVitnesses W. C. STURGEON, T. S. CUMMINGS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

